I HAVE breast cancer - It's in my bones. This WAS supposed to be my journey through the healing process and survival, but darned if I didn't win the lottery again. This is for the rest of my life - the medications and treatments that I have the privilege of access too by virtue of being Canadian. This is my out let.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Follow Up with Surgeon

I like this photo.

Everything is slowly getting back to normal. There's still a little inflammation around the incision but it's all but stopped leaking. And still very swollen. I'm almost getting used to it but I'd rather not have to. Dr. Niaz said that the swelling is a good thing. I'm full of healing materials and when I'm done mending my body should reabsorb the extra fluids.

Drainage has been an issue. The surgeon had put a drain in under my arm to handle the accumulation of fluids after having a bunch of lymph nodes removed. After that slowed down the home care nurse removed the hardware and the opening healed in about 24 hours.

But then the pressure elsewhere began to build. And build. And build. Then I literally burst at the seams! 150ml (1/4cup) came pouring out of a couple pin sized holes near the bottom of the incision on my breast. That was scary!

The home nurse said she had never heard anything like that before but as long as I wasn't in pain and there didn't appear to be any signs of infection I shouldn't panic and that I should go see a walk-in clinic doctor the next day (it was the weekend). The clinic doctor didn't seem to alarmed either. She said that was nature's way of saying "we need to let some of this pressure off." It was freaky though. I was sounding like a big, sloshy, half full hot water bottle.

Over the next week I continued to drain about 50-30 ml per day. The following week I was soaking through dressings twice a day. The next week Dr Niaz tried gluing me shut and pulling me closed with steri strips. The week after that I was still leaking a few drops per day... and finally! As of yesterday - not enough moisture to merit a band-aid. My next follow up with Dr Niaz will be in mid March.